A Customer-Centric Approach to Utility Marketplaces

Ryan is part of the Product Design & Development team at SMUD, and is the Product Manager for SMUD’s ecommerce site, SMUD Energy Store. In his role on SMUD Energy Store, Ryan leads the daily operations, planning and execution of product enhancements, and product strategy. Before SMUD Energy Store, Ryan was a Strategic Planner for customer programs, and launched SMUD’s Bill Pay Your Way program which offers personalized billing and payment bundle options to customers.

Prior to joining SMUD, Ryan was on the Customer Experience team Gap Inc. where he managed customer interaction analytics. Before working at Gap Inc., Ryan was a Strategist at Sterling-Rice Group, consulting for global brands on a variety of product innovation and positioning projects. Prior to Sterling-Rice Group, Ryan was a Sr. Research Analyst at Marketing Evolution, a firm specializing in marketing measurement and optimization solutions.

Ryan holds a B.S. in Business with a concentration in Marketing Management from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Kyle Cherrick is a 10-year solar industry veteran with experience in both start-ups and industry leaders including First Solar, SunEdison, and Chint Power Systems. He leads business development for Pick My Solar including industry partnerships, growth strategies, and strategic marketing.

Kyle holds a BSBA in Entrepreneurship & Marketing from the University of Arizona and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College.

Colin Lamb leads product development of new customer solutions at Xcel Energy, including innovative technology-driven partnerships and pilot programs across the Xcel Energy footprint. Recent projects include next generation demand management, optimized home energy efficiency and demand shifting, utility marketplace ecommerce and smart home services. Colin has startup, sales, and consulting experience, and his degrees include a BS in Economics from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MPA from University of Oregon.

Lauren Laustsen is Director of Solutions Strategy with Simple Energy, a technology company based in Boulder, Colorado. Simple Energy provides software and services that enable utilities to get their customers to take action. Simple Energy pioneered the utility-branded Marketplace and is growing its transactional platform to provide more solutions to utility customers in the channels where they prefer to shop. Lauren works closely with Simple Energy’s client base including investor-owned, municipal, and coop utilities to ensure that the company is meeting the needs of its utility partners now and in the future.

Lauren joined Simple Energy from The Boston Consulting Group where she was a Project Leader in the Energy Practice working with utilities across North America on technology and strategy topics. Lauren holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rice University and an MBA and MS in Environment & Resources from Stanford University.